2021-2023
2020-Collaborative Performance
Lines of Stitching-an Exploration of Quilts
Los Angeles Southwest College Gallery, Inglewood, CA
Featuring the works of Los Angeles-based artists examining what makes up a quilt and what defines it. The exhibition ranges from traditional quilt making to broad applications, materials and processes of the art form.
A project Initiated by artist Michael Miller, "Crit Group" an actual monthly critique meeting of Los Angeles-based artists, collaborated together to create works responding to each others marks and embellishments. Working intuitively as a group, we negotiated our responses and approaches.
Crit Group (in 2019):
Satoe Fukushima, Nancy Jo Haselbacher, Anya Ayeroff, Michael Miller, Joyce Dallal, Joe Hardesty, Diana-Sofia Estrada, Rosalynn Myles, and Jamie Russom.
A project Initiated by artist Michael Miller, "Crit Group" an actual monthly critique meeting of Los Angeles-based artists, collaborated together to create works responding to each others marks and embellishments. Working intuitively as a group, we negotiated our responses and approaches.
Crit Group (in 2019):
Satoe Fukushima, Nancy Jo Haselbacher, Anya Ayeroff, Michael Miller, Joyce Dallal, Joe Hardesty, Diana-Sofia Estrada, Rosalynn Myles, and Jamie Russom.
Below is a specific square collaboration and following images are the pieces being put together. Final 2 images is the whole Crit group quilt installed at LASWC gallery
In Solidarity, a textile piece which will become part of a larger collaborative quilt. Fabric from my mom's homeland of Guatemala merged with fabric knit by artist Michele Jaqui's Austrian great-grandmother, joining two generations of immigration.
In Solidarity, 2018 fabric from Diana Sofia Estrada’s Guatemalan mother and Michele Jaquis’ Austrian great-grandmother sewn onto canvas, 19.5x19.5”
2019
R.E.V.O.L.T II, North Hollywood, CA
Part of Print as Protest group show at Los Angeles Valley College, R.E.V.O.L.T II, was a continued investigation and expression of involving viewers in the creation of artwork. Students were introduced to the original concepts of the piece and then invited to take it apart and make it theirs by creating collages out of it. The students deconstructed the panels, finding words significant to them, creating more prints and collages. After their work was signed, the collages and prints were hung up as part of the installation.
Thanks to the Los Angeles Valley College Gallery and Director, Professor Jenene Nagy
Assistance by LAVC Gallery Techniques students Lee Rubenstein, Linda Thomas (photos noted), and Marilyn Ruman
Thanks to the Los Angeles Valley College Gallery and Director, Professor Jenene Nagy
Assistance by LAVC Gallery Techniques students Lee Rubenstein, Linda Thomas (photos noted), and Marilyn Ruman
2018
Signs of Contemplation
Mirroring Resilience, curated by Edgar Fabián Frías, La Maida Institute,North Hollywood, CA
Responding to the La Maida Institute and the artists that participated in the Mirroring Resilience artist intensive, I created forty 2"x2 linocut blocks creating images of the objects found around the La Maida Institute that a visitor would see. A durational performance, I invited participants and visitors on the exhibition day to create their own composition which they signed and took home.
2017-2018
2017
R.E.V.O.L.T, Woodbury University, Burbank, CA
Video Shot by Michiko Yao
An installation and printmaking performance/workshop focused on engaging viewers in conversation with a simple form of printmaking. Participants were asked to help with creating R.E.V.O.L.T banners. Participants were also invited to take artwork they made home. Performance took place at Nan Rae Gallery at Woodbury University January 21, 2017 and February 22nd, 2017.
Photos below by Nan Rae Gallery Woodbury University

2016
2015
Winner's Intersection at the Caltrans Museum, DTLA
ColorWheels, Winners' Intersection performance at the Caltrans Museum, 100 S. Main St., other info
Performers are Farley Crawford, Siobhan Dolan, Stacey Osaka, and Diana-Sofia Estrada
Mountain Through A Peephole , Box 13 Artspace, Houston, TX
00:05:40, double projected video, drapes with reflective fabric, two peepholes
currently live by the Hollywood hills in Los Angeles, California, but I grew up in Houston and miss its expansive sky. Mountains were just an idea while living in Houston, but are a constant reality for me now. The similarities between Los Angeles and Houston are many such as having diverse cultures, urban sprawl, and concerns about the impact of natural forces on its city. Landscape is a major difference. Thinking about how natural disasters impact Houston and Los Angeles’s landscape, Mountain Through a Peephole contrasts the two cities’ geography and their needs for preparedness as a viewer experience.
Mountain Through a Peephole is a video installation that inverts the public spectacle of the window display and the voyeurism of a peephole. Often times, viewers encounter disaster events through media; this installation affirms that experience, but takes it for what it actually is – a voyeuristic experience. Presenting the landscape in various states of disaster, a video projection inside the window display illustrates these events as cyclical. On the windows are two peepholes creating a type of camera obscura with hindered views. Looking to the growth of natural disasters in both Houston and Los Angeles, this installation asks, “Are you ready?” Reminding everyone that the big one is still coming.
Mountain Through a Peephole is a video installation that inverts the public spectacle of the window display and the voyeurism of a peephole. Often times, viewers encounter disaster events through media; this installation affirms that experience, but takes it for what it actually is – a voyeuristic experience. Presenting the landscape in various states of disaster, a video projection inside the window display illustrates these events as cyclical. On the windows are two peepholes creating a type of camera obscura with hindered views. Looking to the growth of natural disasters in both Houston and Los Angeles, this installation asks, “Are you ready?” Reminding everyone that the big one is still coming.
Mountain Through A Peephole from D.S. Estrada on Vimeo.
2014
Traveling without doing Harm
Performances at Elephant, Los Angles, CA
Estrada organized a group of artist performances that addressed the title of the her show, “Traveling without doing Harm.” Looking at the issues of identity/persona, urban planning, immigration, and capitalism.
The artists are Joy Harris, Guan Rong, Henry Taylor, and Diana-Sofia Estrada.
Estrada organized a group of artist performances that addressed the title of the her show, “Traveling without doing Harm.” Looking at the issues of identity/persona, urban planning, immigration, and capitalism.
The artists are Joy Harris, Guan Rong, Henry Taylor, and Diana-Sofia Estrada.
2014
Traveling without Doing Harm at Elephant
In this installation of work, Estrada focuses on traveling without doing harm. The term “ harm” is applied broadly, the idea being that whenever people travel, we leave or do something to the immediate environment or community. Traveling without doing harm is an impossible, but lofty, goal for one who wishes to be as respectful as possible to an area they are visiting… maybe.
Drawing upon Estrada’s experiences in travel, often being mistaken for a local, this body of work comments upon traveling as a source of “inspiration.” Using imagery she took while in Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt during the summer of 2009, she contrasts this with images taken while her parents were living in Alexandria during the January Revolution of 2011, known in the U.S.A. as part of the Arab Spring. Addressing issues of cultural insensitivity and voyeurism, Estrada’s works seek to record immediate reactions and considerations unto themselves, creating an installation of paintings and objects that voyeuristically contemplate beauty and change.
Performances: Traveling Without Doing Harm: Blunders and Mishaps
Joy Harris, Guan Rong, Henry Taylor, and Diana-Sofia Estrada
Drawing upon Estrada’s experiences in travel, often being mistaken for a local, this body of work comments upon traveling as a source of “inspiration.” Using imagery she took while in Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt during the summer of 2009, she contrasts this with images taken while her parents were living in Alexandria during the January Revolution of 2011, known in the U.S.A. as part of the Arab Spring. Addressing issues of cultural insensitivity and voyeurism, Estrada’s works seek to record immediate reactions and considerations unto themselves, creating an installation of paintings and objects that voyeuristically contemplate beauty and change.
Performances: Traveling Without Doing Harm: Blunders and Mishaps
Joy Harris, Guan Rong, Henry Taylor, and Diana-Sofia Estrada
2013
Desert Dessert
Performance curated by Elephant at Shangrila Burrito Deluxe , Joshua Tree,CA.
A performance confirming honesty, acknowledging aging, creating an energy transference path, and eating desserts in the desert.
A performance confirming honesty, acknowledging aging, creating an energy transference path, and eating desserts in the desert.
Watercolor sketches
Memories of Alexandria and Cairo- Egypt.
2012
L.A. Commons: Palms Utility Box Murals
Collaboration with artist John Trevino and Hamilton High School Students
2011-2012
2011
Winner's Intersection
Performers are Matt Roberson, Astri Swendsrud, Jorge Estrada, Quinn Gomez-Heitzeberg, and Diana-Sofia Estrada; Photos by Calvin Lee
Being a bicycle commuter, I frequently get cheered on, catcalled or honked at while riding to and fro from work. Los Angeles is hilly so sometimes you are going slow, sometimes you are going pretty fast. It just depends. The best times are when people wave at you and smile for doing your best. It makes riding a bicycle exciting and unexpected.
Other than the health benefits of riding a bicycle, what about one’s self-esteem? Being yelled at in a rude manner puts me in a bad mood and being a sensitive person, can create some feelings of anger. I am none too pleased when the f$cker behind me, driving a Benz, is honking at me for riding a bicycle and I am ALL THE WAY TO THE RIGHT! This drives me nuts to no end and makes me want to pull out my pepper spray. But alas I don’t and I do follow the law as best I can.
Others and myself should be appreciated for NOT wasting resources, polluting the air, taking up space, etc. What if there was a group who cheered on your efforts for not using a car? What if there was a group who waved a winner’s flag every time you passed them? What if there was a group who cheered you when you came up the hill or down? AND IT'S DONE IN ALL SINCERITY?!
ALL BICYCLE RIDERS ARE INVITED TO PASS BY THE Winners’ Intersection at 2400 Sunset W,90026 and Coronado (an intersection where you have to stop and start at the base of a hill). A small group will be cheering on anyone who bikes or skates down either sides of the bike lanes AT YOUR OWN PACE. Between 12:30-1:45pm using checkered flags, the Winners' group will cheer and howl for people coming down those lanes (or close to it). Statements such as “Winner!” will be yelled. If people bike in groups, everyone who passes by will be declared the “Winner!” No one will be left out or behind.
WE ARE ALL WINNERS!!!
(remember to be safe, bring your gear, and follow l.a. bicycle laws!)
Other than the health benefits of riding a bicycle, what about one’s self-esteem? Being yelled at in a rude manner puts me in a bad mood and being a sensitive person, can create some feelings of anger. I am none too pleased when the f$cker behind me, driving a Benz, is honking at me for riding a bicycle and I am ALL THE WAY TO THE RIGHT! This drives me nuts to no end and makes me want to pull out my pepper spray. But alas I don’t and I do follow the law as best I can.
Others and myself should be appreciated for NOT wasting resources, polluting the air, taking up space, etc. What if there was a group who cheered on your efforts for not using a car? What if there was a group who waved a winner’s flag every time you passed them? What if there was a group who cheered you when you came up the hill or down? AND IT'S DONE IN ALL SINCERITY?!
ALL BICYCLE RIDERS ARE INVITED TO PASS BY THE Winners’ Intersection at 2400 Sunset W,90026 and Coronado (an intersection where you have to stop and start at the base of a hill). A small group will be cheering on anyone who bikes or skates down either sides of the bike lanes AT YOUR OWN PACE. Between 12:30-1:45pm using checkered flags, the Winners' group will cheer and howl for people coming down those lanes (or close to it). Statements such as “Winner!” will be yelled. If people bike in groups, everyone who passes by will be declared the “Winner!” No one will be left out or behind.
WE ARE ALL WINNERS!!!
(remember to be safe, bring your gear, and follow l.a. bicycle laws!)
http://www.laroadconcerts.org
2010
Chandelier Mosque, video and text installation at Dan Graham space, Los Angeles
Chandelier Mosque is a project that combines video documentation of a mosque with a spatial installation featuring reflective surfaces and the text of our first amendment.
Reflecting on the recent verbal/physical attacks on the American Muslim population, in this installation Estrada presents documentation of the interior of a mosque filmed on the day of Eid, the end of Ramadan, in 2009. This year, Eid fell on 9/11/2010. A work in contemplation for a year, following the lunar year, Estrada brings this video footage together with the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution to comment on our present moment. In the video documentation, the camera spins around the interior décor of the construction, then starts to slowly follow the figures of Muslim youth taking pictures in the mosque. By situating the video and text in an environment of reflective mylar surfaces, Estrada calls attention to the viewer’s own perception in contrast to the filmed images. She creates a distorted mirror, reflecting the viewer in the close, narrow environment of the gallery space.
Reflecting on the recent verbal/physical attacks on the American Muslim population, in this installation Estrada presents documentation of the interior of a mosque filmed on the day of Eid, the end of Ramadan, in 2009. This year, Eid fell on 9/11/2010. A work in contemplation for a year, following the lunar year, Estrada brings this video footage together with the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution to comment on our present moment. In the video documentation, the camera spins around the interior décor of the construction, then starts to slowly follow the figures of Muslim youth taking pictures in the mosque. By situating the video and text in an environment of reflective mylar surfaces, Estrada calls attention to the viewer’s own perception in contrast to the filmed images. She creates a distorted mirror, reflecting the viewer in the close, narrow environment of the gallery space.
2009
Alexandria Bibliotheca, Alexandria, Egypt
When Temples Collide (2009-current), Single Channel
concept animated mockumentary about Frank Lloyd Wright's influences.
excerpt 00:00:015
When Temples Collide from D.S. Estrada on Vimeo.
2008
L.A. Killed My Truck (2008), 2 channel video installation, 8:00 minutes
A documentary about the trials and tribulations of a woman’s beloved vehicle breaking down in various locations around Los Angeles. In the end it gets stolen.
excerpt 00:01:23
1. L.A. Killed My Truck from D.S. Estrada on Vimeo.
Landscape Architect (2008), single channel video, 00:01:55.
Collaboration with writer Joy Harris.
excerpt 00:00:22
2. Landscape architect from D.S. Estrada on Vimeo.
2007
Cuts, a digital flip book, 00:00:14 secs
Appedeum to Record Cut.
Cuts from D.S. Estrada on Vimeo.
Record Cut (2007), Single channel video, 00:7:35
A mockumentary about an artist’s relationship with her drawing.
excerpt 00:00:42
3. Record Cut from D.S. Estrada on Vimeo.
Letter To Me (2007) Single Channel Video,00:10:00.
A Guatemalan Woman recounts her experiences living in the U.S. during the Feminist revolution. In contrast, her daughter makes statements growing up during that time while she speaks.
excerpt 00:00:50
5. Letter to Me 2007 from D.S. Estrada on Vimeo.
Teetortot (2007), Single channel Video, 00:00:37.
Waking up from a dream.
4. Teetertot from D.S. Estrada on Vimeo.
2006
Ways of Making Love in u.s (2006), single channel video,00:03:20.
A looping video that presents the viewer with a Latin American woman reciting dishes to her blonde lovers. All the dishes recited contain a type of chile from a specific geographic region, making a global verbal map.
excerpt 00:00:23
Swiney Park: Collaboration with Swiney youth, facilitated by the Museum of Fine Arts Houston
I collaborated with a wide range of local children from the ages of six to sixteen. These individuals, the artists, decided as a group to create a mural that was a welcoming sign to their park. They picked significant sites from around the area to depict and created many drawings. I took these drawings, and cutting them out created a collage. Using these collages as guide, the artists then painted the sections that they had drawn, painting layer upon layer and finally outlining the forms with paint marker. They "signed" the mural with a border of hand prints.
I collaborated with a wide range of local children from the ages of six to sixteen. These individuals, the artists, decided as a group to create a mural that was a welcoming sign to their park. They picked significant sites from around the area to depict and created many drawings. I took these drawings, and cutting them out created a collage. Using these collages as guide, the artists then painted the sections that they had drawn, painting layer upon layer and finally outlining the forms with paint marker. They "signed" the mural with a border of hand prints.
2005
Lincoln Park: Collaboration with Lincoln youth, facilitated by the Museum of Fine Arts Houston
I collaborated with a wide range of local teenagers ranging from the ages of twelve to sixteen. These individuals, the artists, decided as a group to create a mural depicting what was really important to them in their neighborhood. They picked significant sites from around the area, games, and activities to depict and created many drawings. I took these drawings, and cutting them out created a collage. Using these collages as guide, the artists then painted the sections that they had drawn, painting layer upon layer and finally outlining the forms with paint marker. They "signed" the mural with a border of hand prints.
There are six murals creating an installation. Displayed like billboards in a half circle, the murals on the outside reflect the landscape, the murals on the inside reflect the people doing their activities.
I collaborated with a wide range of local teenagers ranging from the ages of twelve to sixteen. These individuals, the artists, decided as a group to create a mural depicting what was really important to them in their neighborhood. They picked significant sites from around the area, games, and activities to depict and created many drawings. I took these drawings, and cutting them out created a collage. Using these collages as guide, the artists then painted the sections that they had drawn, painting layer upon layer and finally outlining the forms with paint marker. They "signed" the mural with a border of hand prints.
There are six murals creating an installation. Displayed like billboards in a half circle, the murals on the outside reflect the landscape, the murals on the inside reflect the people doing their activities.